


Penny and Harry (are friends)

by Emily_F6



Series: Penny Parker Prompts [5]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Female Peter Parker, Gen, Penny Parker - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-28
Updated: 2020-08-28
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:42:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26158981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emily_F6/pseuds/Emily_F6
Summary: Prompt: Penny knows Harry Osborn
Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: Penny Parker Prompts [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1899553
Comments: 5
Kudos: 219





	Penny and Harry (are friends)

The invitation was dropped onto her desk as she was trying to balance a chemical equation, and Penny looked up at May in confusion. She never got mail!

“It’s from Tony Stark,” May told her, sounding impressed and tapping a finger against the return address that read Stark Industries. “Maybe something to do with your internship.” Penny tried to look as if that were plausible...as if she’d actually spoken to Mr. Stark since Homecoming two months before. “How’s that going?” She wondered.

“Um...great!” She smiled, putting her pencil down. “It’s...it’s great. I’m learning a lot.”

“Good.” May smiled, a gentle hand on her shoulder, then left the room, and Penny carefully opened the fancy cream-colored envelope that held a piece of fancy cream-colored stationery.

It was an invitation to a Start Industries...party? Fundraiser? She wasn’t sure, but either way, it made no sense for her to be invited. He hadn’t spoken to her...at all. Well...he’d given her a suit back, and slowly she’d stopped leaving voicemails for Happy. She hadn’t left one at all that past week, and there had been no repercussions.

Placing the envelope and card down on her desk, she pulled out her phone, stared down at it for a second, then dismissed the idea. It had been a mistake. Someone had sent it to her by accident. Stuffing it in a drawer, she nearly forgot about it until two more weeks went by, the RSVP date passing her by. And then, as she perched on a rooftop and watched the sun go down, she got a call.

“Incoming call from Tony Stark,” Karen informed her, and before she could even make a comment one way or another, his face appeared in a screen over the sunrise.

“Hey, kid.” He was doing something else...staring down at papers or something, shuffling them around. “You haven’t RSVP’d. What’s going on?”

“Um...sorry, what?” She asked and he finally looked up.

“You didn’t get the invitation? I told Pepper we should switch to email!”

“Oh...the Stark Industries thing?” He nodded. “I just...um…sorry, I assumed it was a mistake.” He narrowed his eyes a little like he was trying to get a better look at her.

“A mistake?” He repeated, voice kind of flat. She nodded. “Why would it be a mistake?”

“I mean...I...I wasn’t sure why I’d be invited to something like that.” He blinked at her, still seeming unsure of what exactly she was saying.

“You think Stark Industries just sends out invitations to random teenagers?” Sighing, she shook her head, shoulders sagging. She was tired and confused...the man had ignored her for the most part since he’d come into her life to take her to Germany. And of course she was grateful and of course, she loved her suit and the excuse to give to May about being Spider-Girl. She was so, so grateful and Mr. Stark was her idol and her hero...and she’d hoped at the beginning of all this that he would lead to Mr. Stark being...well...her actual mentor. But...well, he was busy and she understood that. So she’d told herself to let that go. Just focus on being Spider-Girl and realize that Mr. Stark didn’t really want to be her mentor. She’d accepted that.

Okay, she hadn’t. But she was working on it.

“Your schedule is free. Tell May it’s an internship thing. What do you think?” He asked, voice a little softer. A little nicer.

“Um...okay. If you want me to go.” She shrugged even though he probably couldn’t tell. He sniffed, looking back down at his papers.

“Happy will pick you up at 5 on Friday.” He told her simply. “Talk to you later, kid.”

Penny let May do her hair, twisting it into a high updo that she never could have done on her own, then brushed some mascara and lip gloss on. May wanted her to wear a dress, but Penny didn’t have anything nice enough. Instead, she dressed in a skirt and a button up blouse, something she assumed an intern would wear. One pair of heels later and she was ready, climbing into the back of the car and mumbling a nervous ‘hello.’

“Hey, kid. Haven’t been getting any updates recently.” Happy gave her a look in the rearview mirror, and she shrugged.

“Nothing’s really happened.” She told him simply, remembering all the texts and voicemails she’d left him that he obviously hadn’t wanted and felt her face flush in the dark. Happy hummed but didn’t say anything else as he drove her through the city and, to her surprise, to the tower. “Um...I thought Mr. Stark sold the tower?”

“Changed his mind.” Happy told her, then pulled up to the front door, climbing out of the car and coming around the back to open hers. She stared up at him in surprise, staring at the hand he offered. “I don’t have all night, kid.” He prompted, but his voice lacked bite. She finally reached up, taking his hand and letting him help her out of the car. “Boss told me to take you inside. He wants to talk to you.”

She wanted to ask why he’d invited her to this party if he just wanted to talk to her, but she didn’t. Instead, she let Happy guide her into the building, past groups of men in suits and women in dresses and waiters and waitresses balancing trays full of drinks. She hurried along behind Happy until he led her right to Mr. Stark who was holding a drink in one hand and talking to a man she didn’t recognize. As soon as he caught sight of Happy and Penny, though, Mr. Stark put the drink down, gesturing for a waitress who approached with her tray, and in a smooth, practiced motion, he grabbed a drink and gestured for Penny to come over.

The man said something to Mr. Stark, then left just as Mr. Stark held out the drink to her. She stared at it for a moment, then looked back up at him. “Mr. Stark, I can’t…”

“There’s no alcohol in the red ones.” He told her, rolling his eyes and pushing it toward her until she finally took the glass, the rip dipped in sugar. “Strawberry Slinging Margarita.” She felt her lips twitch. She took a sip of the sweet strawberry drink and he picked up his own drink. “How you been, kid?” He wondered. She shrugged.

“Um...I’ve been fine, Mr. Stark.”

“Still...still doing school and nerd clubs and...all that?” He asked. She glanced around.

“Uh...yeah.” He nodded.

“Good...good.” Mr. Stark drained his glass. “Happy said you were mad at him.”

“What?”

“Well, you’re not calling him anymore.”

“I...just...I didn’t think he wanted me calling him anymore, Mr. Stark. I don’t want to bother him.” Mr. Stark shook his head.

“You aren’t bothering him. It’s his job, kid. I told him...he’s your point man. You’re supposed to call him if anything’s wrong.”

“Yeah, well, a lot of good that did me.” The words were out before she really thought about them, and she dropped her eyes, refusing to look at him.

“What are you talking about, kid?” She pressed her lips together, eyes hot, and then she placed the drink down onto the table.

“I should go, Mr. Stark.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Mr. Stark, the last time I called Happy for help, he hung up on my friend! I was...I needed help, and he was going to steal your plane! He...he pulled a gun on me at my homecoming dance!” She hissed, fighting to keep a tear from falling. Not here. Not in public. Thankfully, no one was looking at them. Mr. Stark frowned, dropping his empty glass on the table they stood beside at the edge of the room.

“He what?”

“He dropped a building on me! And then…” She took a step back. “I should go. I’m not...I get it. You’re busy and Happy is busy and I’m not…”

“Holy fuck! Are you kidding me?” The words caught Penny off guard, and she and Mr. Stark both turned to find a boy that looked vaguely familiar hurrying toward her, followed by an older man. “Penny? Penny Parker?” She blinked, then in a rush, she recognized him.

“Harry?” She asked, quickly brushing at her eyes and forcing a smile as he threw his arms around her. She hugged him back, still trying to recover from her...well, whatever she’d been doing with Mr. Stark. “Wow! What...what are you doing here?” She cried, both of them pulling away to look at one another. Harry was taller than her by a good five or six inches, his teeth almost abnormally white, blond hair styled heavily with some kind of gel. And he reeked of alcohol, but he apparently recognized her despite that.

“My dad got invited to the party and dragged me along.” She flinched a little at his overly loud proclamation, as did his father who hurried to join his son, along with the rest of them.

“Stark.” The two men shook hands, neither looking too happy about it. Then Mr. Osborn put a firm hand on Harry’s shoulder. “This is my son, Harry.” Harry rolled his eyes a little but held out a hand to shake Mr. Stark’s.

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Stark.” Harry greeted, straightening up. “Dad, this is Penny. Remember? We went to middle school together.”

“Right. Hello, Penny.” Mr. Osborn held out a hand that she shook. “Nice to see you again. What brings you to one of Stark’s parties?” Before she could answer, Mr. Stark was moving closer to her side, and she realized what people meant when they said emotional whiplash.

“Penny is my intern.” Mr. Stark told him, almost forceful.

“Really? That’s impressive. How did you get an internship for a man that famously doesn’t have interns?” Norman Osborn wondered. Harry swayed on his feet a little, then flinched at his father’s tight grip on his shoulder.

“She applied through one of my school outreach programs.” Mr. Stark answered for her, and she looked over at him curiously. He hadn’t looked angry a second ago...when she’d been all but yelling at him, but now...now he looked cold and distant. Almost disgusted.

“You know, Oscorp has a pretty competitive internship program, Penny. If you make it through, you’re guaranteed a job with the company. It pays pretty well too…”. Mr. Osborn informed her, and she tried to look interested.

“Oh...that’s really cool. How do you apply?”

“It’s all online. You’re a smart girl, Penny, if I remember right. You must have been to get on here.” He glanced over at Mr. Stark then. “What about your program, Stark? What do you pay the girl?” Penny’s interested smile dropped and she fought the urge to take a step back, not sure how to feel about the way he spoke about her as if she wasn’t there. She just wanted to go home. Coming to this party had been a mistake. Mr. Stark didn’t want to be her mentor and he didn’t want to be...well, whatever she’d hoped, he didn’t want to be it.

“I don’t think that’s any of your business, Norman.” Mr. Stark’s voice was a warning that Mr. Osborn ignored.

“How much does he pay you?” Norman asked, turning to her, and Penny backed up a step, no idea what she should say.

“More than I’m worth, to tell the truth.” Penny tried to joke. No one smiled but Harry.

“What do you get to do here?” Her old friend wondered.

“Work in the labs, that kind of stuff.” She waved him off, watching him sway a little under his dad’s firm hand and wondering how much he’d drank.

“Well, Penny, if you ever want to do more than play in a lab, we offer a real internship.” Norman Osborn offered, holding out a business card that she took on instinct, barely looking at it before Norman was steering his son away, and Penny was left standing beside Mr. Stark who swore under his breath.

“You can throw that damn thing away.” He snapped. Penny flinched, stung, and immediately he put a hand on her back, leading her across the room, past several curious party guests, until they reached the kitchen which was empty. Without speaking, she tossed the wadded up business card in the trash, starting to wipe at her eyes but hesitating when she realized it would ruin her makeup. Instead, she stared at the wall, trying not to let herself cry over something so stupid.

“I wasn’t going to go to Oscorp.” She bit out, hating how her voice wavered. “I don’t even have a real internship here.”

Mr. Stark sighed. “Pen?” She refused to look up at him. Refused to lift her head in case he saw her hurt expression. It had been so stupid to go to that party. So, so stupid. Mr. Stark didn’t want to mentor her. Didn’t want her around. Neither did Happy.

“I didn’t do anything.” She murmured. “I’ll go...I just...I want to go home.”

Mr. Stark took a long, deep breath, then moved to stand beside her, staring at the wall as well. “I didn’t know you knew each other.” She didn’t look over. “You and Harry Osborn.”

“We went to middle school together...we were in a bunch of the same clubs.” He nodded, thoughtful.

“I hate that asshole...Norman. Only invited him because his wife is brilliant...I keep hoping she’ll defect to Stark Industries.” She kept her eyes on her feet. “Look...I’m sorry, kid. I didn’t mean to take any of that out on you.” He reached up, patting her back, and she finally looked over. “And I’m sorry about…” He ran a hand down his face. “Look, I’m...I’m bad at this, okay? My dad didn’t...he never gave me any kind of support and he was...awful, to tell the truth. Not that I’m...look, I think...you could be...no, you are a hell of a superhero, kid.” She felt her eyes widen, but he kept going. “I don’t know how to do this. But...I’m the one that recruited you, and I’m responsible for you. So I’m going to try to do better. About this whole mentor thing.”

“I don’t want to be your responsibility, Mr. Stark.” She told him quietly, avoiding his eyes. He shook his head.

“I don’t mean it like that, Penny.” He murmured, voice soft, and his hand came up to grip her shoulder. “I...shit, I suck at this.” He laughed without humor, glancing over at the refrigerator but not moving from where he leaned against the counter. “I want you to be my responsibility. I want to be your...mentor. Whatever. You’re...you’re a great kid and I...I’m sorry that you got stuck with me for your mentor. I’m sorry that I disappeared on you and that you had to fight that Vulture guy alone. I’m...I should have just given you my number. Should have told you what was going on.” He sighed, the sound ragged and tired. “But...uh...I’m going to try. So...you think we can make do?” When she finally met his eyes, he was earnest. Sad. Genuine. But mostly hopeful. So, so heartbreakingly hopeful.

She forgave him in a heartbeat.

“Yeah.” She nodded, trying to wipe discreetly at her eyes. “I...I’m sure we can.” He grinned, gripping her shoulder.

“You’re a good kid, Pen. Better than I deserve.” She shrugged. Then he grinned, looking a little more like the Tony Stark she’d seen on TV. “Also, you’re going to get an email this week with details about your very new, very real Stark Internship, after which you will be guaranteed a spot at my company. Working with me. And it pays really, really well.”

“Mr. Stark…”

“Like, better than you’d think. Imagine a really generous intern salary and then double it.”

“Mr. Stark, you don’t have to…”

“Don’t mention it, kid. I’ll be damned if I get shown up by Norman Fucking Osborn.” She had to laugh, and he shook his head, laughing with her. “Damn I hate that guy.”


End file.
